


Yellow Brick Road

by somnivagrantTraviatus



Series: TaiQrow Nonsense [4]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguously Romantic Friendship, Gen, M/M, Ozpin is not Oscar, Trans Taiyang Xiao Long, Volume 5 (RWBY), nontraditional relationship dynamics, think "queer" over "gay"
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:53:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27967115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somnivagrantTraviatus/pseuds/somnivagrantTraviatus
Summary: When Ozpin reincarnates, it's a little closer to home. Forced to rejoin a fight he walked away from a decade ago, Taiyang was prepared to defend his family against Salem – butsevenchildren were a few more than he was expecting to protect.In other words, this is a totally outlandish AU in which Tai gets more than two minutes of screentime.
Relationships: Past Raven Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long, Past Summer Rose/Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/Ozpin/Taiyang Xiao Long, Qrow Branwen/Taiyang Xiao Long, Taiyang Xiao Long & Ozpin, Taiyang Xiao Long & Qrow Branwen, Taiyang Xiao Long & Qrow Branwen & RNJR, Taiyang Xiao Long & Yang Xiao Long, Taiyang Xiao Long + Qrow Branwen
Series: TaiQrow Nonsense [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2126112
Comments: 34
Kudos: 76





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I am really, _really_ bad about finishing fics, but I have had this AU on the brain for a week now and I wanted to get at least Something up for it. If you're interested and want to hear more, feel free to address any questions to [my tumblr.](https://twixtandshout.tumblr.com)

In Vale, there was chaos. Screams and gunfire rang across a night lit by brilliant silver. A school fell, a wyvern turned to stone, and four girls went separate ways. And under it all, a clock struck twelve, and a wizard disappeared behind a curtain once more.

In Anima, a woman affectionately referred to as Auntie Em pondered the growing boy outside and what he might like for dinner. She flipped a coin – tails. Brussels sprouts it was, then. The inscrutable pachinko machine of reincarnation made a face and decided it wanted nothing to do with that, and the boy outside fed his chickens, unaware of his close brush with destiny.

And on the island of Patch, a father sat by his daughter’s bedside, occupied, as he often was, with grief.

_Oh, thank goodness. She’s alive._

Taiyang straightened, breath caught.

_Skin’s a little pale, and she's rather still, but that's to be expected. Still, she looks to be recovering nicely._

Ruby’s hair was damp with sweat, but she leaned into his hand, forehead smoothing. Tai brushed her hair out of her face, pressed a kiss to her crown, and walked to the dining room table.

“If this is what I think it is,” he said, “it better not be.”

_My apologies, Taiyang. Much as I respect your decision to retire, it appears that fate may have its own plans._

Tai bit off a snarl, feeding it into a clench of his fists and a controlled, purposeful stride to the tea cabinet. What did he have… herbal? (Gods, when was the last time he went shopping?) No, he needed something caffeinated for this. Instant coffee it was, then.

Pour the water. Heat. Measure the powder. Take the kettle off before it whistles – don't want to wake the girls. Pour. Stir.

The first sip tasted wrong, but he drank it anyway, grimacing. Taste wasn't important. What was important was how it felt going down, the texture and heat of it, the way it stole the burn from his chest and turned it into gentle warmth. The fragility of the mug in his hands.

The way it thunked when he set it on the table.

“Alright, Ozpin,” Tai said. “You want me back out there? You're going to tell me everything.”

His eyes drifted around the table: Summer’s seat, respectfully covered in a snow of bills; Raven’s, set back against a corner and suffocated in dust; Qrow’s seat, sideways and cold; the children’s, littered with weapon blueprints and crumbs. Tai set his jaw. “You owe me that.”

 _Yes,_ Ozpin agreed, exhausted beyond where bones could reach. _I suppose I do._

\---

“You're telling me she died for nothing.”

 _No._ Ruby, standing victorious over a heap of food-spattered Beacon students. Yang, cackling with glee as she rocketed through the air. The other members of his daughters’ team – _Blake_ and _Weiss._ More children, faces flashing in quick succession. Four young girls in the colors of the Seasons. _Summer Rose died for tomorrow._

\---

The nightmares were nothing new. (Not even the fire, though it was the first time he was the one who burned.) He practiced mindfulness at Ruby’s bedside, clenching and unclenching his fingers, his toes, figuring out where he ended and centering himself on the rise and fall of her blankets; he practiced his breathing cycles outside Yang’s door, when she let him in to change her bandages, when he brushed her hair. Time marked itself by Qrow, who let himself in with groceries each Sunday, refused to meet his eyes all week, and disappeared to crawl the bars Friday night. _It’s probably for the best,_ Ozpin thought. Tai agreed, hating himself for it. Qrow was bitterly ironic at the best of times, self-destructive at worst, and too damn observant for his own good. Hopefully he was too preoccupied with his own guilt to pick up on this latest bombshell.

When he could bring himself to suggest it, the two of them (three of them?) sparred. Harbinger stayed by the door, and of course 天堂闪电战 hadn't seen daylight for years now. (He'd have to dig the gauntlets out and tune them up. Not now, not now.) Hand to hand was obviously out of the question. Instead, they fought with practice cudgels from the shed.

“You're putting more into this than usual,” Qrow panted, shifting his weight off the leg Tai had landed a particularly good strike on. Tai’s chest warmed, even as it stung from Qrow’s last glancing hit. Visible shows of weakness weren't something Branwens did; not without a lot of trust. He'd had that trust for a long time. It was still breathtaking. 

(He'd thought he'd had _both_ Branwens’ trust. But thinking about that stole his breath for entirely different reasons.)

He shook the thought off, old hurt scabbing over his tongue. “Well, you're sloppier than usual. Gotta teach you to tighten up that guard.” Friendly teasing was something partners did, right? Though maybe not so clumsily.

Qrow grimaced, and for a moment Tai wondered if this was it, another log on their pyre. Then Qrow settled back into his ready stance, face drawn. “One more.”

Their staves clacked against each other – a rhythm, a certainty, that transcended lifetimes.

\---

And then Ruby woke.

Tai could have cried with relief, except for the resurgence of questions he’d been much happier ignoring. “What was that? What happened? What am I?” The answers burned his tongue like coals, but he could spit them out for her. _Would_ spit them out, for her sake.

But as always, Qrow grabbed the baton first. Tai retreated to his bedroom, useless as ever, while Qrow shackled their baby to the destiny Tai would give anything to let her avoid.

 _Now, now,_ Ozpin hummed, _there's no need to be so harsh. On either of you. Ruby’s destiny will find her, you know, one way or another. Better she be prepared than taken by surprise._

_I’d rather it not find her at all._

_I understand. Unfortunately, there is only so long we can delay. Fate, I've found, will place its chess pieces where it will._

Tai clenched his fist, idly noting how the world slowed with the prick of nail against palm. _Bold words, coming from the man who puts them there._

 _I would give anything to be otherwise, Taiyang._ Lives upon lives spent in the gutter, on the side of the road, in perfectly normal households living perfectly normal lives. Deaths upon deaths, friends, family, children, hundreds of them with Ruby’s eyes. _I have been a parent. Do not presume I fail to understand the weight of the sacrifices I must ask._

It was the sadness, more than the rebuke, that cut him. All the griefs mixed like paint against the blank canvas of the wall. The blank emptiness of the left side of the bed. The blank vacuum where his heart should have been.

 _It's alright,_ he thought. _Qrow will handle it._ And it didn't matter at all which one of them had thought it.

\---

A letter at her bedside, and Ruby was gone, and Qrow with her. Tai threw himself into taking care of Yang, but all too soon, she left, too, and he was… not alone. He'd never be alone, now. (The thought was reassuring, honestly, even as he recoiled from it.) No, he wasn't missing company, for once. Just excuses.

He stared down 天堂闪电战, the gauntlets heavy in his hands.

 _It’s time,_ Ozpin said.

Tai slipped them on. Something settled in him along with the metal plates, and he flexed his hands, refamiliarizing himself with how the weapon changed his movements. He nodded.

“To Haven?”

_To Haven._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please feel free to correct my Google Translate Chinese. (Intended translations in hovertext!)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've got a bit of a buffer, for once. Planning to update about once a week, while it lasts.

Team STRQ had different parts to play, back when Tai had worked for Ozpin and there was a Team STRQ at all. Summer was the hero, the silver-eyed superpower who could take out an army of Grimm and comfort a lost child with the same reassuring smile. Raven was the ambassador, crossing continents with the wind to recruit possible allies and intimidate possible enemies. Qrow, of course, was Ozpin’s spy, keeping tabs on Salem’s movements and passing messages amongst their side, but he'd picked up a bit of all their jobs when the rest of them dropped off. Tai wasn't so multitalented – he’d been Ozpin’s enforcer, not his informant, detective, and who knew what else – but he knew enough about how these things worked to put bugs in a couple of ears.

Alone, Qrow would have been nigh untraceable. Thankfully, that wasn't a problem – besides Ruby, he'd apparently picked up three more kids before reaching Haven. The impromptu escort gaggling behind him was much easier to track. Tai sent a quiet thank you to the children, and again when he heard how they'd brought Qrow in.

“He was poisoned,” Miss Malachite told him, for the low, low price of entirely too much. “Or so I hear. Scorpions,” she tutted. “Nasty bunch. He seems to be doing alright now, though. My Spiders say he left the hospital with a clean bill of health and Lionheart’s blessing.”

“And now?”

She tittered, fluttering her eyelashes behind her fan, and he sighed, forking over more lien. This had not been something he missed in retirement. 

Miss Malachite licked a finger, paged through the sheets, and nodded. The lien vanished down her bodice. “Your boy’s certainly been active in the social sphere! Barely a day on his feet and he's already stirring the pot, looking for his huntsman friends. Too bad we've had such a rash of deaths lately. Poor man took it hard; he's barely been out of the bars all week.”

Tai winced. “Yeah, that sounds like him. Thanks for the help.”

“Oh, don't mention it, darling.” Her fan tapped against her collar as she looked him up and down, appraising. “Not often our customers are so polite. Don't suppose you'd want to stay awhile, Mister Xiao Long? I'm sure we're all _very_ curious about what's brought you out of retirement.”

He stood, stretching, a polite smile on his lips. “Afraid not. I should go collect my partner before he runs his tab out. Goodnight, Miss Malachite.”

A bob of his head carried him past the guards and onto the street, where he let himself slump. “Here two weeks, just recovered from a major injury, and he's already drowning in booze, huh?”

 _As Qrow loves to remind us, he is “always drunk.”_ The weight at the back of his brain glittered distractedly. His eyes roamed the streets – too few people for this time of day, all of them huddled in or hustling through the alleys. No weapons. His mouth twisted. _I'm more concerned by the dying huntsmen she mentioned. Hopefully Qrow will have some insight._

Qrow joked about how they always found him on his drunken bar crawls, but honestly, it wasn't hard. He always wound up under the sign with the worst pun – especially if it was bird-related. Naturally, Tai found him drunk off his ass in the 啼乌鸦.

He didn't bother measuring his footfalls. Drunk Qrow startled just as much at sudden noise as he did at silence, which was to say, anywhere from not at all to every five minutes, depending on how drunk he was. Tonight, Qrow barely raised an eyebrow as Tai settled in behind him, then swore and nearly upended his glass in Tai’s lap when the bartender turned too quick.

“No ‘hey there, good to see you’ for me?” Tai asked when the silence dragged on too long.

Qrow blinked at him, then the array of glasses on the table. “Huh,” he said eloquently. “Didn't think I'd had that many yet.”

“Come on. Is it really so unbelievable that I'd come out to check on you?”

He fixed him with a withering look and went back to his liquor. Tai grimaced. “Okay, yeah. I deserve that.”

“Why’re you _really_ out here?”

He ran a hand through his hair, sighing. “I mean, I did want to check on you and Ruby. It's a mean world out here, and it's not like I can call you from home with the CCT down. I couldn't stand it if something happened and I never even knew.”

“But?” Qrow prompted.

“...but you're right,” Tai admitted. “There's more to it than that.”

“Oh?” Now Qrow straightened, a hint of keenness flashing in his eye. “News from Beacon? ‘d hafta be big, to drag you out here.”

Tai snorted. “Yeah, you could say that.” How to get across the gist, without invoking any listening ears?

 _Qrow and I have a code for this,_ Ozpin said. _He should have picked up Long Memory when… Beacon fell. Tell him you'd like your cane back._

_My cane?_

_Well, yours now._

His stomach roiled. Five little words, and this all would be real. Ozpin, his headmaster, his boss, his... friend? Dead-not-dead in some secret bunker under the school. All the nightmares he'd had since then, written in the flesh. It was all too easy to picture Qrow turning over the body, eyes distant, mouth hard.

And all of that on his shoulders. _Fuck._ He nabbed Qrow’s glass out from under him and drained the last of it, too aware of his eyes on his back.

“I think,” he managed, when the last of the burn had faded down his throat, “that you have something important. Something that's mine now."

Qrow froze. “You're joking.”

“I wish.” He shook his head. “You know I wouldn't. Not about this.”

Qrow reached for the empty glass, grimaced, put it back. His hands were whiteknuckled on the table. “I have to hear you say it, Tai.”

He swallowed. “I'd like my cane back.”

“Fuck,” Qrow said.

Someone in the back swore as glass shattered. Tai laughed, humorless. “That's about the size of it, yeah.”

Qrow, head in his hands, signaled for another refill.

\---

It was a shame, Ozpin reflected the next morning, that he couldn't get drunk along with his host. On the other hand, Taiyang’s hangover did provide a modest opportunity to get some fresh air, as it were, in a context refreshingly devoid of any apparent life or death stakes.

He was only about a head shorter than his previous life, which was a blessing he knew better than to overlook – though his joints pained in odd places when he bent for the saucepan, and again to put it away. Haven’s huntsman lodgings, while otherwise luxurious, were not known for their hot chocolate stores, unfortunately. A pre-packaged mocha would have to do.

Little feet pattered down the stairs as the water began to boil. “G’mornin, Dad,” Ruby yawned on her way past him.

 _Tha’s mine,_ Tai thought distantly, blurry but unmistakably proud. _I made that._

 _Yes. The resemblance is quite striking, at present._ Ozpin hid a smile behind his mug. “Good morning, Ruby.”

“Huh. That was weirdly coherent for a dream.” The rustling in the cupboard stopped briefly, then resumed. “No magic cookie powers, either. Weeeeeeeird.” She came back with a box of People Like Grapenuts, grimacing. “Still no good cereal options, either. I miss Pumpkin Pete’s… And Zwei hasn't run through, covered in chocolate yet. Which means!” She peered at him suspiciously. “You're… really here?”

“I am,” Ozpin confirmed, pouring his coffee. _For a given value of “I,” anyway._

“That’s so cool!” Ruby bounced in place, eyes gleaming. Ah, the easy alertness of youth. “Are you coming with us to help Haven? Did Uncle Qrow tell you things are weird here yet? Ooh, do you know about all the fairy tale stuff? That's kind of important. I might be able to tell you but I think Uncle Qrow did it better; he was all _wooo, spooky_ about it. Although it probably helped that he was kind of– what are you doing?”

Ozpin paused, an empty thimble of creamer at his side and a sugar packet between his fingers. “I’m… sweetening my coffee?”

She blinked at him. “But you like your coffee black.”

Ah.

Ruby backed away, silver eyes wide. “Y-you're not my dad.” Her voice wobbled. 

_Now would be a good time to make an appearance, Taiyang,_ Ozpin thought sharply. No answer. Exhaling softly, he set the coffee down and backed away, hands up and smile as disarming as he could make it. “Very astute, Miss Rose. I promise, everything is alright. If you could just–”

“Who are you, and _what have you done with my dad?_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to pun in a language I don't speak was probably biting off more than I can chew, but it came up in my Google Translate results and I had to include it. Again, please do feel free to correct me – I have utterly no experience with Chinese.
> 
> Translation in hovertext, but I'll put it here too: the bar's name is supposed to translate to something along the lines of The Mourning/Crowing Crow. (While I'm here: Tai's gauntlets are Heaven Blitz in English, to match Yang's Ember Celica.)


	3. Chapter 3

_Sorry._ Taiyang’s voice was sheepish in the back of their head. _Guess I drifted off._

Under the combined glares of Miss Rose, Miss Valkyrie, Mr. Lie, Mr. Arc, and Qrow, the apology hardly seemed sufficient.

“Seriously?” Qrow’s eyes were slightly unfocused, pained exhaustion writ in the creases, but two sets of familiarity pointed out the amused twist of his lip. When he swung his hand out at them, it was with the same exasperated lack of grace that accompanied arguments at the Rose-Xiao Long dinner table and every joke he'd made at Ozpin’s expense. 

(“Disrespectful,” Glynda called them. “Refreshing,” Ozpin had thought. It was a relief that those jokes were still a possibility.)

“It's been, what, six hours?”

“Seven,” Ozpin corrected, just to see him twitch.

Qrow rubbed his forehead, fighting a grin. “Fine. Seven hours, and you’ve already scared the kids and need me to come rescue you.”

Tai shifted guiltily. “I have never been a particularly good actor,” Ozpin admitted, rueful. “I’m sorry to have caused such a stir.”

Ruby, who had been alternating between staring down Ozpin and darting looks at Qrow, raised a hand. “Um, hi? Can we get an explanation, please?”

“Your dad’s fine,” Qrow said, reaching for his flask. Ruby deflated with relief. “‘cept maybe a killer hangover. Guessing that's why you're in front?”

“More or less,” Ozpin agreed. “I thought it would be nice to get some breakfast, and Taiyang was ill inclined to suffer last night’s effects once he woke. I didn't think anyone else would be up quite yet.”

“Ren was!” Miss Valkyrie volunteered.

“I was doing my morning stretches,” Mr. Lie confirmed. “I didn't see you, though.”

A testament to the young man’s focus, no doubt. “I'm glad you're keeping up with your training.” And, at a suggestion from Taiyang: “Miss Rose, your father informs me that this Sunday’s pancakes will be Nevermore-shaped, in apology for the scare.”

Ruby considered this. “It was supposed to be Ursae this week… but Nevermore pancakes are thirty percent bigger.” She nodded firmly. “Alright. The council accepts your proposal!”

“Wait, hang on,” Miss Valkyrie protested. “The council hasn't voted yet! And _this_ councilwoman says _Ren_ makes the pancakes around here.”

“I can't make pancakes every day, Nora.”

“Would waffles suffice?” Ozpin offered.

Miss Valkyrie squinted at him. “You drive a hard bargain, Mister… whoever you are.”

“See,” Mr. Arc interrupted, “that's kinda something I'd like to know. He might be… wearing Ruby’s dad’s face, or something, but he just broke in here! How are we supposed to trust this guy when we don't even know him?”

“I let him in.” Qrow wiped his mouth on his sleeve, slipping his flask back into his pocket. “And you know him, alright. Or you did.”

The children’s heads swiveled to face him, and he sighed. Trust Qrow to make things needlessly dramatic.

_Oh, like you can talk._

Which reminded him– Long Memory. He extended the cane and set it across his lap. “Ring any bells?”

Miss Valkyrie gasped.

“You’re–” Ruby started.

“Professor Ozpin,” Mr. Arc finished for her. 

“Just Ozpin, now.” He occupied himself with Long Memory’s gears. Astounding, how hypnotic a set of simple rotations could be. 

_You really do feel guilty, don't you?_ Taiyang asked wonderingly. Ozpin looked away. “As Beacon is no more, it seems silly to claim the title.”

Silence weighed down the room. Finally, Ruby spoke up. “I bet that doesn't stop Professor Oobleck, though.”

“That’s _Doctor_ Oobleck,” Ozpin reflexively corrected, only to startle as the words came simultaneously from three other mouths. The heavy tension dissolved into laughter.

“ _Brothers_ ,” Qrow cackled, sprawled more against the couch than on his seat. “Wish I'd gotten that on video. Barty would’ve thrown a fit.”

Ozpin smiled, taking in their grinning faces. These young souls deserved whatever levity they could find. And what magic, to create it from nothing like this!

Taiyang, curled around him like a dragon at a hearth, radiated satisfaction and pride. _That’s my girl._

\---

At first, Taiyang ran combat drills with the kids, practicing punches, blocks, and teamwork alongside general weapons training and combat awareness. Signal’s combat lessons were aimed at a younger demographic, but Ozpin’s educational background filled in the gaps, and a class of four was much more manageable than his usual twenty or so.

When Tai moved to work over hand to hand with one pair, Qrow pushed the other on their weapon use. “You’re thinking too much,” he accused Jaune. “You can't keep wondering, ‘Oh, what if I do this?’”

Ren, Jaune’s partner for this exercise, came up behind Qrow, Stormflower extended. Qrow spun his sword and slammed the butt into his stomach without even looking back. Jaune’s face fell along with his teammate. “Just react,” Qrow advised. “Your weapon should be part of you – an extension of yourself. You don't think about it every time you reach your arm out, right?” He demonstrated. “You just do it.”

Ren gratefully took the offered hand, dusting himself off. Jaune frowned. “I see what you're saying, but… there's so much to remember. How do you keep it all straight?”

“Qrow can't keep _anything_ straight,” Tai called, from where he was busy circling Ruby. Her partner, Nora, choked and doubled over with laughter.

Qrow flipped him off, scowling goodnaturedly. “I get bi fine, thanks. Maybe you should worry about yourself!”

Tai spun and caught a blow from Ruby, who tried to follow up with a flailing punch from her other hand but was quickly thrown to the side. “Aw, c’mon, Uncle Qrow, I almost had him!” Ruby cried.

“You're gonna need to try a little harder than that to get the jump on your old man,” Tai informed her.

Qrow shook his head, turning back to Jaune. (“Get _bi fine_ ,” Nora wheezed, on the ground now. “Oh, man, I'm gonna puke.”) “Anyway. Yeah, it's a lot to remember, but that's why we're drilling it now. The more you do it, the more it'll stick in your head, the more naturally it'll come when you need it.”

Jaune turned over Crocea Mors, running a thumb along the golden crossguard. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I guess that makes sense.”

Qrow evaluated him for a second, then compacted Harbinger and put it away. “Break time,” he announced.

“What? But–”

“And I mean that literally,” he drawled. “I wanna see you take your weapon apart, check for maintenance, and reassemble. Go!”

“But, um–” Jaune held up his longsword.

Qrow leveled a look at him. “Do you think just cause your weapon isn't as fancy as the rest of us, it doesn't need cleaning?”

Jaune eeped. “No, sir!”

Qrow reached behind himself, trailing a finger up Harbinger’s hilt. “Your weapon is your closest ally. But if you don't know it, if you don't take care of it, it can turn on you in an instant.” His eyes fluttered shut for a breath, and he turned away. “Don't let a bit of rust in the wrong place be the thing to kill you.”

\---

That exchange had Tai thinking. How much did he know Long Memory? He hadn't built it, like he'd built 天堂闪电战; hadn't run maintenance on it, barely knew how to use it. Ever since he'd become Ozpin’s host, he'd been treating the experience like a dream, but he knew better than anyone what sort of dangers lay ahead. Long Memory felt familiar in his hands, but he couldn't trust that familiarity to carry him through a fight. It was time to get serious. 


	4. Chapter 4

“You spend all your mornings in tree pose, or is this a special occasion?”

Ren wobbled as his eyes sprang open. Carefully, he put his foot down. “Mr. Qrow. I… didn't hear you.”

Qrow nodded at him. “You got everything you need on you?”

Ren blinked. “What for?”

“We’re breaking into Haven’s shooting range.”

\---

Haven’s halls echoed with their footsteps, Ren’s measured gait just keeping pace with Qrow’s long-legged saunter. No one came to stop them. No one was there to. Without Nora, Jaune, and Ruby’s cheerful chatter to liven up the atmosphere, the gleaming woods and opulent statues loomed gloomily from the academy walls.

“Do we… have permission to be here?” Ren’s voice was hardly louder than a whisper, but it hissed around the hallway’s shadowed corners.

Qrow shrugged. “Not like Lionheart will care,” he said, heedless of his volume. He flashed the keycard he'd swiped at the door. “Sides, we got in fair and square.”

Ren hummed and fell in closer with him.

Qrow led them unerringly through a series of twists and turns, too many to keep track of, before stopping at an unmarked door. He swiped the keycard again and pulled it open. “We’re here. Gear up and get ready.”

Both put on goggles and earmuffs. Ren set Stormflower down in lane two, and Qrow situated himself behind him. “One gun at a time. I'm gonna have you use one hand for one lane, then shift over one for the other. You ready?”

Ren nodded.

“Commence fire.”

When the rounds from both guns had been emptied, both men went forward to score the targets. Ren looked away – most of his shots had gone wide.

Qrow, on the other hand, gave an approving whistle. “These’re better than I expected.”

“What?”

He nodded at the targets. “You did about as well with your left as your right. You ambidextrous?”

“More or less.”

“Good. You'd be surprised how many dual-wielders are nowhere close.” Qrow stretched, then headed back uprange. “Pack up and clean up. I've got what I wanted to see.”

“And… what was that?”

The question hung for a second as Ren changed out the targets. Finally, Qrow sighed and leaned back against the wall. “You grew up in Anima. You know the Branwen Tribe.”

“I do.”

“You know they kick kids out for a year when they turn thirteen?”

Ren glanced at him. “‘s an unlucky year,” Qrow said, staring into his flask. He took a swig – noticeably briefer than the other draughts he’d taken, but still in defiance of range rules. “See, they want you to fuck up. Either you die and the Tribe has one less mouth to feed, or you learn how to survive and come back ready to pull your own weight.”

“...why are you telling me this?”

“When you're a kid living on your own like that,” Qrow continued, as if he hadn't spoken, “it's pretty scary. You're, what, four-foot-three? Nothing between you and the Grimm.”

Ren looked away.

“Course, if you have a weapon, it's a whole other story. You get your aura working, you kill a Grimm or two, and you've got _confidence._ ” He snorted, shaking his head. “Suddenly all the guys you used to worry would steal your stuff in the middle of the night are afraid of you. All you gotta do is stand up, scowl a bunch, and shoot a few times and no one bugs you anymore.”

Ren turned to face him again, mouth open. “Then,” Qrow said, before Ren could say anything, “you get to Beacon. And your team’s a real powerhouse, and you've got this dinky little gun. And they tell you your job is providing cover fire, just shooting the air, so your teammates can do the dirty work without getting hit. Sound familiar?”

Ren shut his jaw. His eyes traced Stormflower, in pieces on the desk.

“Yeah.” Qrow huffed a laugh. “Thought so. Well, I'm here to tell you that’s bullshit.”

“So what do I _do_?!”

Ren’s chest heaved. Qrow raised an eyebrow at him, and he flushed, dropping back to Stormflower. “...sorry. I–”

“You work on accuracy.”

Ren looked at him again. Qrow’s head was tilted back, and he was staring at the ceiling lights. “Your first year at Beacon, it's about teamwork. How do you fight alongside whatever idiots you're stuck with without someone getting accidentally shot in the back? Second year is when they tell you, every huntsman is an island. It's nice to work together, when you can, but if you end up separated from your team or taking on jobs by yourself, you’ve gotta be able to survive on your own. Your pistols won't do shit if you aim them wildly. Without power, you’ve gotta be able to make every shot count.”

“I’ve… always had Nora for that.”

“Yeah, and I had Raven.” Qrow smirked humorlessly. “Things change in twenty years.”

Ren began putting Stormflower back together, precise and methodical. “Nora and I won't.”

Qrow snorted. “Yeah. That's what we said.” He shook his head. “Think of it this way. She's putting the power behind your shots – what are you doing for her?”

Ren’s hands stilled. Qrow nodded, unsurprised. “Go pick up some dust rounds. Whatever kind you think will help your team. You're gonna practice til you get a bullseye on every shot, and you're gonna use it to go for the eyes.”

“...thanks,” Ren said, not meeting his eyes. He slipped his guns back into their holsters, fingers sliding over the aged, worn leather. “I'll… think about it.”

Qrow tossed a credit card onto the desk in front of him. “It's not charity,” he said, before Ren could protest. He didn't meet Ren’s eyes, either. “It's an investment. If it bothers you, live long enough to pass it on.”

A beat passed. Ren took a breath, and took the card.

\---

Spread out on the bench like this, Long Memory looked like any other weapon. Tai didn't know what he had expected – impossibly overlaid pieces, a sparking arcane core, some kind of bomb that blew up if anyone but Ozpin touched the handle – but the cane was surprisingly ordinary inside.

 _Actually, you were fairly close,_ Ozpin said. _You simply dismantled the explosive along with the cane. A weapon like Long Memory requires some… extra precautions. We can't have just anyone getting their hands on it, after all._

Tai thought about that for a second – about his initial hesitation, before familiarity took over and guided him through the disassembly – and decided to shelve the impending crisis for another time.

_Probably wise._ Ozpin chuckled. _Do you know, you're taking this better than most of us did._

_**Not** thinking about that,_ Tai cheerfully informed him.

_Very well. You know where to find me if you have questions._

Tai took stock. Long Memory had a rifle function, but, ironically, _no_ stock. (He allowed himself a private chuckle at that.) Shooting it would likely be finicky, especially since he used shotguns when he shot at all; he didn't _have_ to use that mode, and, honestly, probably wouldn't, but there was no sense carrying a weapon he couldn't use. Maybe he'd follow Qrow’s lead and spend some time at Haven’s range.

Speaking of, the gears and such in the middle of the cane’s handle were strikingly similar to Harbinger’s transformation mechanism. (Not that Qrow had ever let him poke around in there. Tai couldn't blame him; he wouldn't want anyone fiddling with 天堂闪电战, either.) Unfortunately, the fugue he'd fallen into while taking the cane apart didn't come with director’s commentary. He didn't have a clue what else Long Memory might turn into. All he had were memories of putting it together.

(He'd sanded the sides by hand. This would outlive him. This would be the only evidence he had existed, and if that was the case, it should be the finest weapon he'd ever made.)

(Not thinking about it.)

Beyond that, it was a totally normal cane.

Tai drummed his fingers on the bench, considering. He hadn't used a staff for anything beyond practice bouts since his dojo in middle school, but he knew the theory. Had a couple of ideas how to mix it with his fighting style, too.

Yeah. He could work with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra:
> 
> Qrow tossed Ren Haven's keycard. "Here. You'll need this to get back in and practice."
> 
> Ren took it, bemused. "Won't you need it?"
> 
> "Nahhh." Qrow stretched, folding his arms behind his head. "I can get in on my own. Don't worry about it."
> 
> Nora peered over the couch at him. "Wait, so that wasn't yours?"
> 
> "Nope."
> 
> "Where'd you get it?"
> 
> He shrugged. "Swiped it off Leo's desk."
> 
> "Uncle Qrooow!" Ruby called from the other room. "What have we told you about stealing?"
> 
> "What? He won't miss it!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This chapter has art!](https://twixtandshout.tumblr.com/post/639604819911393280/a-scene-from-chapter-5-of-yellow-brick-road-my) Check out the photo for a look at Tai's new outfit.

“Hey, you wanna help me break this gear in?”

Qrow stopped, flask halfway to his lips, and stared. “Did you… change your shirt?”

Tai adjusted the scarf around his neck, fighting the urge to look away. Qrow's eyes were heavy on him as they weighed his new clothes. “It seemed like the right time.”

“After twenty years? Eh, I dunno. Maybe you should've given it another decade.”

“Didn't know you were a fashion guru. I must've missed all the updates you've made to your closet,” Tai fired back. 

“Yeah, but I'm a bandit brat,” Qrow drawled, brushing dust off his shoulder. “Thought you civilized folk did things different out here.” He blinked, leaning in to pluck at Tai’s vest. “Is this _tweed?_ ”

Tai shoved him back, suddenly uncomfortable with the scrutiny. It was more attention than he'd paid to the new clothes. Were they that strange? “If you're jealous, I can find you a nice skirt somewhere."

“Go for it, loverboy. Mistralian girls can appreciate a nice set of legs.” The tone was right, the laughter undercutting the words, but there was something flat in Qrow’s eyes as he backed away. “Roof, right? I'll go find us a pair of sticks.”

“Nah,” Tai said, putting the discomfort out of mind. He patted Long Memory. “Bring Harbinger. I should get some actual practice in.”

Qrow pulled a face. “D’you know how _weird_ it is to see you carrying that thing?”

“About as weird as being the one doing it?”

“I'll drink to that,” Qrow said, and did.

\---

The sun beat down on the rooftop, not quite warmly enough to be called hot, but strong enough that the late spring breeze ruffling Tai’s scarf and Qrow’s cape was more than welcome. Tai stretched, luxuriating in the open air and the pull of old scars. Damn, but it was still nice to not need a binder. Day greeted, chest appreciated, he ran through a more formal set of stretches. His wrist could handle a fight without them if it had to, but what was the sense in straining old injuries?

Across from him, Qrow rolled his shoulders, Harbinger in sword mode at his side. “You ready?”

Tai flexed his fingers. 天堂闪电战 clicked into ready position. He wasn't as sure what to do with Long Memory, but settled into a stance with it swung back over one shoulder. “Bring it on.”

They stared at each other for a second, waiting to see who would move first, until Qrow took the initiative and ran forward with an easy swing. Tai spun the cane overhead for a chest strike, but Harbinger’s flat came up to shield the blow. Disengage, pull back, and uppercut him while Qrow was focused on the staff.

They stepped back and circled each other, Tai swirling the cane in a loose flower on either side. Qrow cracked his neck. “Quit showing off.”

“Just getting a feel for it,” Tai grunted, and turned the momentum into a sweeping jab at his feet. Qrow jumped back, but the followup caught him in the side. Tai moved in for a couple punches. Harbinger made it difficult, so he retreated a step, mimicking Qrow’s overhead sweep with a cane strike that audibly cracked against his shoulders. He didn't give him time to recover, following with a quick jab to the chest and a right hook Qrow ducked under to slash at Tai’s side.

Qrow’s movements slowed as Tai’s aura engaged to take the hit. He shook it off, calming his breaths until he was at the same tempo as the world again. No Semblances in sparring.

Even if his would make it easier to take advantage of the openings Qrow left, shifting Harbinger to scythe form. The blade swept in broad circles, forcing Tai to dance back. “When were you gonna tell me you'd picked up a new style?”

He hadn't. It was all half-remembered techniques from his old dojo, strung together with intuition. “Thought the cane made it pretty obvious!”

Qrow changed the pattern, Harbinger flashing overhead. “How much is the cane and how much is you?”

Tai flinched. Long Memory was cold and strange in his hand.

The distraction cost him a slash across his chest. _Focus,_ Ozpin admonished.

Harbinger’s handle was a fault in its guard. Long Memory slipped under it and shoved, throwing off its momentum and sending it spinning across the roof. 

Qrow stared him down, weaponless.

_He’d been weaponless then, too. That hadn't stopped Tai from hitting where he knew it would hurt. Qrow hadn't tried to catch the blow, hadn't put his aura up. Just took it, flesh against flesh._

Tai pulled the punch. What would have been a haymaker softened into a light jab, and they sat there, chests heaving. “It's all me,” he said, when he had the breath.

“Yeah?” Qrow watched him, wary, telegraphing every movement as he stepped back. Tai hated him. “You're not secretly Oz right now?”

_I don't **keep** secrets,_ Tai wanted to say. _Not like the two of you do._ But Salem sat between them like a stone in his gut, _bone-white with Grimm-dark eyes, unchanging, unkillable. She kissed him in the candlelight. She killed him, cold hands clenched around his heart. She still smiled the same way._ His gorge rose, fighting the urge to be sick.

The air screamed as something cut it open from the other side. Both men turned to meet the swirling vortex. A figure appeared, long, wild hair blowing in a nonexistent breeze, and Tai’s heart jumped, despite the nausea. What would she think of him? What could they say? But another figure stood at her side, and when both pairs of feet touched the roof, the portal slid closed without a word.

He couldn't see her through it. It was stupid of him, but he _wanted_ to.

“Dad?” His daughter’s voice was incredulous.

He ran a hand through his hair, trying to regain some semblance of composure. “Yang.”

The girl next to her, Weiss Schnee, might as well have been melting into Yang’s side. “Hi,” she said, looking at Qrow. “Is this a bad time?”

\---

_I can't do this._

_I understand._ And, what’s worse, he did. _Let me handle it, Taiyang._

“That isn’t… all she told us,” Weiss said. Yang crossed her arms and said nothing, glaring like she could burn the coffee table out of existence.

_She's so much like her mother._

Qrow nodded, letting them put the words in his mouth as they spilled his greatest secret. How Ozpin had reshaped him, remade him, made him his memory and his wings and he said thank you for the privilege.

If Tai had limbs right now, they would be trembling.

_Go,_ Ozpin said, and no one noticed. 

Destiny marched on. Tai let himself go blank.

\---

When he was again, Tai took two minutes to hate Ozpin and Raven and the stupid war they were all stuck in and one minute to hate himself. Then he went to find Yang.

“Come to say ‘I told you so’?”

His daughter was a mass of blonde curls, hunched on the edge of the roof and huddled against the nighttime cold. She looked so much smaller like this.

(Like she was in the years he didn't spend with her, too busy drowning in blank grief to take care of his own _fucking daughter– _)__

_We cannot change the past. We can only attempt to do better going forward._

He took a slow breath and settled next to her, shoulders barely apart. “Why would I say that?”

“Oh, I dunno.” The sarcastic bite to her words was all Raven. “I only spent my whole life trying to find my mom, against your advice, and got there to find out she's a giant bitch. You really don't have _anything _to say about that?”__

Tai ran his hands through his hair, trying to figure out where to start. “Your mother…” He and Yang both winced. Wrong tack. “Raven can be… difficult.”

She snorted. “That's one way to put it.”

“She's judgmental, stubborn, and selfish,” Tai continued. “But she’s also proud, and strong, and dependable.” Except for when she decided you weren't worth it. _Don’t think about it._ “I told you when you left that I’m glad you avoided some of her flaws, but that goes both ways. I love you both because you have so much good in common."

“So, what? I'm just supposed to like her because she's like me?”

“That's not what I said.” She looked at him, violet eyes wide and lost, and he set a slow hand against her shoulder, relieved when she didn't flinch. “I'm glad you had the chance to meet her, but you don't have to like her just because I do. That's something you should decide for yourself.” Her breath hitched. “It's okay for you to make your own choices, Yang.”

“That’s funny. She said the same thing.”

They both had to look away at that.

“...why didn't you tell me they could turn into birds?” Yang asked at last.

Tai blinked. “Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters!” Yang’s shoulders were raised and rigid with anger, or maybe something else. Whatever it was, it ran through her strongly enough to make her tremble. “It doesn't bother you that they just– that they've been _lying_ to people about who they are?”

Tai sighed, settling back to look at the stars. His last trip to Mistral was a long time ago, now, but it had been one of the last missions STRQ took as a team. He and Summer had teased the twins about eating worms, and Qrow and Raven had chased each other through the campfire, taking bets on whose tailfeathers would catch first. “You have to remember, I've known them for over half our lives. The bird thing is…” Terrifying? Awe-inspiring? Beautiful? Sure, but Qrow’s also fought with Patch’s pigeons over rights to the Xiao Long bird feeder. “...pretty normal at this point.” He looked over at her. “It's part of them, sure, but it doesn't make them any different. Your uncle is your uncle, whether he can turn into a bird or not. And I think you know that."

She slumped as the fight in her blood cooled, spiraling from her nose like smoke in the cold air. That was all him. His sunny little dragon.

Love warmed his chest like a wood stove. He set a hand on her back, the only skin in their family that ever felt warm enough, and waited for her to say what was really wrong.

“It's just… things keep changing.” She scrunched her face up, and he saw Ruby there, every time he made broccoli for dinner. “That sounds dumb. But a year ago, we were at Beacon. And it was good, y'know? We were playing Remnant and DnD and… and doing our homework together. And now Beacon’s gone and Ruby’s some kind of superhero. I'm missing an arm.” She waved her metal hand to prove it. “Blake _left_ , my mom and Uncle Qrow are _birds_ , and _you're_ turning into _Professor Ozpin!_ ”

_Thanks, I noticed._ He bit his tongue before the words came snarling out, but not before a complicated whirl of emotions swept through him, then went terrifyingly blank.

_We need to talk._

_After we secure the Relic._

“I don't want you to change,” Yang said. A single tear dripped down her cheek.

He pulled her into a hug. They sat there, watching the stars, for a long time.


	6. Chapter 6

“Huh,” Qrow said, poking at his scroll. “That’s weird.”

Tai glanced over. “What’s up?”

“Leo left a message. Says he wants to meet up.”

“That’s suspicious.”

 _Very,_ Ozpin agreed. _But he doesn’t know you’re here, yet._

Tai hummed. “Good point.”

“Gonna share with the class?” Qrow asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He doesn’t know Ozpin’s back,” he explained. “Or that I’m here.” 

Qrow’s slouch deepened, a smirk playing over his lips. Tai smirked back. “What do you say we spring the trap?”

\---

“...Mom?”

Tai spun, glimpsing only a flash of black feathers before her feet hit the ground. She had some sort of Nevermore mask on, bone white against the darkness of her hair, but his heart knew her without needing to see her eyes. “Raven,” he breathed.

“Taiyang.” She made no move to take off the mask. “You’re getting sloppy. Time was, you would have noticed me as soon as you walked in the door.”

He closed his eyes. “Yeah,” he admitted. His lips twitched with a ghost of a memory. “You always lit up the room, Rae. Made it difficult to see anything else.” 

She hadn’t acknowledged Yang at all.

His daughter stood, mouth open, arm half-outstretched. The other clenched and unclenched at her side. “I missed a lot that way,” he said, and when Yang’s head shot up, he gave her a smile.

Qrow, always picking up his slack, moved in to draw his sister’s attention. “Why are you here?” he demanded.

“I could ask you the same thing.” She rested a hand on Omen’s hilt. “You’ve been scheming, little brother. Planning to attack me? I’m almost proud.”

How did she – 

“Leo,” Qrow growled, always quicker on the uptake. “What have you done?!”

Haven’s headmaster trembled. “I–”

“Leo did what he had to,” Raven snapped. “He looked at the information in front of him, assessed the situation, and made a choice.” 

Tai swallowed. Omen rose from its sheath – that was the grip she used when she was planning to cut a portal. “Raven, wait!”

She paused. “What, Tai.”

Hope flickered in his chest. If she would still listen to him, then… maybe they had a chance. If only it didn’t rest on his words.

_I could help. If you wanted._

_No. I have to do this myself._

He took a breath. “I know things look bad. This war is…” He shook his head, throwing a hand wide to encompass his family. “Knowing I could lose you? It’s terrifying! But that’s all the more reason to fight, don’t you get it?”

“Dad’s right,” Ruby said behind him, and his heart flipped. “I’m scared to pieces right now, but I’m still here, because I can do more here than I could if I stayed at home.” She swallowed. “Maybe beating Salem is impossible. But we’ve done things that most people would call impossible before, and I know that the only reason we were able to do it is because we didn’t try to do it all by ourselves!”

He ruffled her hair, ignoring the painful twinge her words sent through him. Gods, she was just like her mother. “Couldn’t’ve said it better myself.” Cautiously, he took a step forward. Raven didn’t move. He took another. “Come back, Raven.” He held out a hand. “At least we’ll have a better shot together.”

Omen sliced the air. Something impacted his chest – he stumbled back, one hand covering the hissing burn. 

“Stop trying to tell me I’m _weak,_ ” Raven hissed. “This isn’t one of Summer’s fairy tales. I’m not running away from anything. I’m doing what I have to to survive!”

The portal stretched, swirling, and he didn’t have to recognize the people who stepped through it to know they were bad news. Ruby’s growled “Cinder” reinforced the impression.

 _She’s the new Fall,_ Ozpin grimly informed him. _Salem’s figurehead. The one who led the attack on Beacon._

_The one who killed you?_

Ozpin’s silence was answer enough.

Yang shouted something under the war drums beating in his ears. Qrow put an arm out to stop her, but Tai couldn’t place the look on his face before Haven’s doors closed on them with a boom.

“The White Fang is prepping demolition and securing the school grounds,” a gravelly baritone announced. “No one’s getting in, or out.”

 _Oh, wonderful,_ Ozpin said, falsely bright. _Today keeps getting better._

_Who’s that?_

_Someone I’d rather hoped we wouldn’t meet again._

“How long have you been working with them?” Qrow demanded, before he could get a better answer.

The woman – Cinder – chuckled, sweeping her bangs out of her face with a skeletal arm. (Had she always been part Grimm? His stomach turned.) “Oh, don’t worry, little bird,” she purred. Qrow shot him a concerned look – had his growl been that loud? “Raven here is a recent addition.” 

That was good, right? That she hadn’t been working with them for long?

_But she is working with them now. Don’t let your guard down, Taiyang._

“Really,” Cinder continued, “you should be asking about Leo. Lionheart’s been working with us for a while now.” She smiled, sparkling and empty, tilting her head. “Admission to the Vytal festival was a treat.”

Qrow went rigid at his side. “All those huntsmen… you told her everything. You led her right to them!”

Tai glanced away from Raven just long enough to see Lionheart flinch. It did nothing to stop the rage pulling back Qrow’s lips. “How could you, Leo?” he roared.

“Don’t take it too hard,” Cinder cooed, sickly sweet. “I’m sure Tyrian and Hazel would have tracked your little friends down eventually.”

“How can you _say_ that?” It took Tai a second to place Jaune’s voice, cracked and small as it was. It gained strength as he continued. “How can you be so _broken_ inside, that you can kill all those people and throw it in our faces? Like it’s something to be _proud_ of?”

Cinder paused, the saccharine malice cracking off her face, and for a second Tai wondered if the kid had managed to get through to her. Then he realized how dead her eyes looked. “...who were you again?”

Jaune howled and lunged for her, and the uneasy peace crumbled like Beacon’s walls. Tai and Qrow shared a look – _I can’t leave this,_ Qrow’s said. _You take Leo,_ Tai’s jerk of the head answered. _I’ve got Raven._ Qrow’s mouth twisted, but he nodded, leaping up to the balcony with Harbinger in hand.

“Get rid of the heiress,” Raven ordered the woman at her side, taking off her helmet at last. Shame he couldn’t appreciate the first time he’d seen her face in a decade. “Don’t bother using your power – she isn’t worth it.”

The bandit woman strode past him, eyes never leaving his. He didn’t move to intercept her, any more than he had tried to stop his daughters from joining the fight. He had to trust that the kids could handle themselves.

She sneered at him and turned her back, like he didn’t know that was a Branwen insult. Didn’t matter, not so long as she was gone.

Just him and Raven, now.


	7. Chapter 7

Raven came at him first. Good – he wasn’t sure he had the stomach. He nudged her swing aside with the back of his gauntlet, following with a left punch. “You’ve crossed a line, Raven!”

She sidestepped and ran past him, so he kept pace, but a flurry of dust fragments from Omen’s sheath caught him by surprise. With the ice immobilizing his hands, she got a slash in across his side. “Guess your ‘family’ isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. How long have you wanted to say that?”

“I _waited_ for you!” His aura hummed where it had met her blade. The clash of weapons slowed. Eyes narrowing, she switched to a defensive stance, but 天堂闪电战’s shotguns propelled him forward even as he broke the ice and the hit landed solidly against her stomach. “You’re the one who ran away!”

She took one, two punches, then vanished under his roundhouse kick. His Semblance was the only reason he moved fast enough to catch the blow from the portal at his back. “I made a choice,” she growled, flipping back and slashing at his legs.

He jumped back, avoiding the strike, but she darted past him and through the portal, emerging from the first in a flurry of blows even his Semblance wasn’t fast enough to stop. As soon as he spotted an opening, she was gone, flitting from one portal to the other in a deadly dance that kept him on the off-foot. Each hit from her ice-dust blade sapped his speed away, leaving him dangerously low on aura. His vision wavered.

_Red eyes. Pale skin. She closed in on him, lips kicked up in a knowing smile._

_“Don’t bother fighting. You may as well make it easy on yourself.”_

Long Memory snapped to its full length. He spun it in a whirling flower, catching her next strikes and smacking her to the ground. “You wanna talk about choices?” His chest heaved. Raven’s crimson eyes were as beautiful as ever, but for the first time since Beacon, all he could see in them was cold. “This is mine.”

She flinched, drawing back in shock, or horror, or something else he couldn’t place. “Ozpin?”

He smiled grimly, drawing the cane’s barrel up to eye level. “I’m not waiting for you anymore.”

One shot. Two shots, into the portal at his front. Raven snarled and lunged for him, but the bullets whizzing by forced her to weave, and he got another shot off before blocking her blow. They fenced, dodging bullets each time one looped, but he was focused, now, and she was losing ground. 

A bullet cracked against her ankle. She gasped, going down to one knee, and he raised Long Memory for a strike –

His wife looked up at him. He hesitated.

And then there was a flash of silver as Ruby screamed.

Something went _clunk._ The light faded as Ruby crumpled to the ground, and for a heartbeat she was Summer, eyes wide and dim. Raven could wait. He was at his daughter’s side before her name left his mouth. 

“Ruby? Kiddo?” His voice shook. “Please be okay, petal, I can’t lose you, too.”

Fabric shifted. He threw himself, guard up, between her and her assailant.

The young woman – _Emerald_ – held up her hands, some sort of emotion flitting over her face. “I just knocked her out for a bit. Don’t worry – Cinder wants her alive.”

Small comfort, but he’d take what he could get.

Ren and Nora took position next to him, the latter giving him a determined nod. He nodded back – good to see his daughter’s adopted team was still there for her.

Emerald, however, had vanished. But before he could look for her, the intermittent clang of steel against glass stopped, leaving a perfect vacuum of sound. He turned in just enough time to watch Cinder’s lance pierce Weiss through. Jaune’s agonized scream pierced the silence just after.

Ren and Nora paled. This was likely the first time they’d seen something so gristly, and under the guilt, the throbbing memories of missions gone wrong, an anger stirred. How dare she force these students, these _children_ , to confront the viscera of this job so early?

_They were at Beacon when it fell, you know. Mr. Lie and Ms. Valkyrie, especially, are no strangers to suffering._

He stood, blocking Cinder’s view of the children, and glared her down, jaw set. _Even worse._

Behind him, someone roared. He had just enough time to see Cinder smile at him before a fist hit the floor hard enough to make the ground shake. “Ozpin,” Hazel thundered. “You should have known better than to come here. I’m gonna kill you, over and _over again!_ ”

“Man, you sound like Yang after a bad day.” The snark was more reflexive than anything else, but the routine – duck, dodge, mouth off, hit – was familiar, and compared to Raven’s blistering speed, Hazel’s fists moved like tectonic plates. That gave him ample opportunity to check on his eldest, who was steaming, but giving her grey-haired opponent a good fight. 

A whistle of wind passed his cheek, and he dodged right, nearly tripping over Nora’s hand before she yanked it out of the way. He grimaced and angled back toward the center of the room. “If you wanna kill me, you’re gonna have to do a better job,” Tai taunted, tweaking one of Hazel’s lightning dust crystals in a way he knew from experience should hurt like a bitch. 

Hazel barely flinched. _What in the world is he made of?!_

_His Semblance numbs him to pain._

_Well, fuck._

_Quite._

His fingers spasmed where they had touched the crystal, despite how brief the contact was, and he shook them out with a grimace. Anything to keep the guy’s attention on him instead of the kids. 

Heels clicked behind him, too far back to be a threat, but the dark-haired curtain at Cinder’s side caught his attention as it always did. Raven didn’t meet his eyes. “Lionheart,” Cinder called. “Open the vault.”

Lionheart glanced at Qrow, then made a show of patting his pockets. “S-silly me,” he laughed thinly. “Must have… forgotten the key. In my other coat.”

“Cinder!” Emerald threw something: a golden watch, tumbling end over end. Qrow dove over the railing for it, tucking into a duck and roll, but when he came up his hands were empty. The real watch hung for a moment, suspended in a swirl of wind, before Cinder took it with a smile.

“I knew I kept you around for a reason,” she told Emerald, who beamed. “Lionheart and I, on the other hand, will be having a long talk about his _forgetfulness_ once I’m back with the Lamp.”

She slotted the watch into the statue’s empty clock face – another piece of information she shouldn’t have had. Tai forgot about the fight entirely to watch in horror as the hidden elevator’s grinding, ancient gears delivered Cinder, Raven, and the Maiden to the vault.

A fist to the face reminded him why taking your eyes off your opponent was never a good idea. Tai’s aura shattered along with his nose.

Hazel bared his teeth. “I’ve got your measure now, Ozpin.”

Tai spat blood. “Not if you’re still calling me ‘Ozpin,’ you don’t. What’s your problem with him, anyway?”

“He didn’t tell you my tale, did he?” he rumbled. “Tell him, Ozpin. Tell him how you _killed_ her!”

A flicker of thought, and Ozpin sighed. _Gretchen Rainart was Hazel’s sister. Despite her brother’s wishes, she enrolled in Beacon Academy to become a huntress, and tragically lost her life in a training accident. Hazel... holds me responsible._

_Oh, for Brothers’ sake._

Lightning crackled and snapped against Harbinger’s steel as Qrow harried Hazel from behind. Tai took advantage of his opponent’s divided attention to land a hit to his kidneys. “We’re _huntsmen_ ,” he growled. “We know the risks! I’m sorry for what happened to your sister, but she made her choice!”

Hazel caught him by the vest, meaty fingers tightening in the fabric, and brought their heads together. “You don’t know what it’s like to lose someone like that,” he growled.

Tai froze.

_Taiyang._

Harbinger flashed in the corner of his vision. Tai headbutted Hazel before it could reach him, forcing the man to stumble backwards, and kicked himself back to the ground just in time to avoid taking the scytheblade to the ribs. “ _I_ don’t know what it’s _like?_ ”

_Taiyang. This isn’t your fight._

“ _ **I don’t know**_ what it’s like to **lose** someone?!”

_Taiyang!_ Ozpin’s voice rang sharply against his skull. _You are out of aura and in no shape to fight. Let me handle this! I know how Hazel thinks. I can end this with a minimum of damage!_

He roared, lunging for Hazel in a shotgun-propelled hook, but came up short. Something flashed behind his eyes. His body wouldn’t move.

_I’m sorry._

_No!_ He grit his teeth and strained, something popping behind his left temple. _Let… me… **go!**_

Something dark and heavy skidded into him from the front. “Can you have this crisis somewhere else?” Qrow grunted, trembling under the weight of Hazel’s fist. Harbinger’s flat made an effective shield in a pinch, but it wasn’t designed to hold back freight trains.

A click. Qrow’s head snapped up, and he dove in front of the shot, taking a slug of fire dust right to the chest and tumbling end over end to the wall. “Whose side are you on?!” he squawked.

Whatever Lionheart said in reply vanished under Tai’s eruption of rage. Sheer willpower pulled the leash in his head taut.

Hazel huffed, methodically cracking his dust-streaked knuckles. “For someone who says he isn’t Ozpin, you seem to enjoy letting other people fight your battles.” He jerked his head at Qrow. “Are you gonna let him die, too?”

Tai’s vision went white. The leash snapped.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief body horror warning for Emerald's Salem manifest. Also some eye scream (after " _Bang._ "), but that's a bit more glossed over.

Tai charged Hazel fist-first, roaring. Why were his legs so slow? Not his Semblance; that leapt through him like sparks from a flame, pulling him like a comet through the languid minutes, but the last of those sparks had blown out along with his aura and, like an uncooperative lighter, each step refused to catch. Hazel didn’t even try to dodge his assault. Sneering, he moved to swipe Tai aside –

And met the broad side of Nora’s hammer.

“Stay behind me,” she ordered Tai, more serious than he’d seen her. “I can take him.”

“Pretty words,” Hazel growled, “but you don’t have the strength to back them up.” He snorted, dismissive. “Your blood won’t be on my hands. It’ll be on his.”

Rage boiled in Tai’s throat, but his muscles were sore and uncooperative. Weak. He grimaced, hating himself, but dragged himself forward to stand beside her. He would not cower behind his student. “His Semblance blocks out pain,” he told her. At least the information could help. “He heals pretty quick, too.”

“I don’t need him to hurt,” she snarled. “I just need him to _stay down._ ”

He smiled, despite himself – a thin thing with a vicious twist, but proud. “Atta girl.”

With a grunt of effort, she tore forward, aiming for the crystal sticking out of Hazel’s arm. His hand lashed for her like a Taijitu, bundling her into a chokehold, and if Tai hadn’t known what her Semblance was, he would have screamed when Hazel lit her in a nimbus of electricity. But Nora’s shriek of pain had a triumphant edge to it, and Tai let that triumph firm his jaw and fuel his strikes when he darted in to jab at Hazel from behind.

Harrying. Like Qrow. Where had he– up on the balcony again, tangling with Lionheart. Guess that shot marked the end of whatever alliance they’d struck. And Ruby– fear shot through him, when he didn’t see her body by the stairs, but she was up and delivering a sloppy spin kick to the silver-haired boy Yang was fighting earlier. Yang, by her side, caught one of Emerald’s kamas on her gauntlet for a swift uppercut, then kicked Crescent Rose back toward her sister. Thank the Brothers they were alright.

Another shout from Nora. Magnhild was high over her head, and as Tai watched, she brought it crashing down, spiking Hazel knee-deep into the tile floor. Hazel’s raised forearm bore the brunt of the hit. It stood firm, despite the sheer force of the blow, but Hazel bellowed with rage, reacting more to the attack than he had to any of Tai’s. A jerk of his wrist caught Magnhild just under the head and flung it, and Nora, bodily into the wall. The boards cracked under her weight. She slumped, sliding to the floor.

“Nora!” The shock and fear in Ren’s voice turned his tight shout into what might as well have been a scream. Tai half-expected him to charge in, guns akimbo – it was what he would do – but the boy visibly settled himself, taking a deep breath and steadying his pistols.

Hazel bared his teeth, eyes never leaving Ren as he climbed back to level ground. “What about you, boy? Are you next?”

Ren’s eyes darted up, then back to Hazel’s face. His finger tightened on the trigger. “No. You are.”

_Bang._

Ren’s ice round caught Hazel in the eye, blooming into a dagger-sharp bouquet. Hazel screamed, one hand rising to cover his face as he recoiled – and Magnhild came roaring to meet him, crashing him through the wall like an oversized croquet ball and sending a good chunk of that wall tumbling after.

Tai held his defensive stance for one, two beats. When Hazel’s bellowing didn’t come any closer, he rolled his shoulders back and took a deep breath. The oxygen was sweet and cold through his lungs and throat. His aura wouldn’t be combat-ready for a while yet, but he had been a huntsman for too long to overlook the chance to gather what he could. His aching nose thanked him, too.

With the new hole in the wall, they now had a clean exit to Haven’s courtyard if they needed it. That could be nice – always good to have a way out of a bottleneck – but with all the chaos out there, they would have to be alert for any opportunistic stragglers looking to join the fight. Then again, judging from the searchlights roving over the ground, the military had the situation outside handled. That meant it was his and the kids’ job to clean up this mess before anyone came around with inconvenient questions.

Gods. If Lionheart didn’t back them up, what could they even say?

Haven’s headmaster was still trading blows with Qrow. It didn’t look like much of a fight, but at least Lionheart knew how to make use of the balcony’s close quarters. Harbinger was having some trouble getting around that shield. On the bright side, Lionheart didn’t seem to be doing much damage either. Qrow was too canny to leave him any openings, and, instead, was steadily forcing him closer to the open air. Tai was hard-pressed to tell if Lionheart knew that he was being herded or if the man was cringing for other reasons, but the scowl he could make out on Qrow’s face said Lionheart really was just that pathetic.

_Did you know he was working for her?_

There was no answer.

No time to be discomfited, not with the fights still going on. If there were any other fights going on. Qrow could handle himself – in close quarters and without aura, Tai would only be in the way. But Ruby and Yang’s opponents were staring, slack jawed, at the hole in the wall, and that only left –

“Weiss!” Ruby gasped. “You’re okay!” 

Tai’s relief was almost as sweet as the cold air. The kid’s bodice was torn where the lance had impaled her, but the scar marking the spot was pale and smooth and the nod she gave Ruby was sure. “Thanks to Jaune.” She grimaced. “Still can’t believe I’m saying that.”

“That’s fair,” Jaune said, but his grin belied his words. He ran a hand through his fringe. “I can hardly believe it myself. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Weiss sniffed, bringing her sword up to her cheek. A chill wind ruffled her skirt and ponytail. “Don’t sell yourself short. I already thanked you once; I won’t do it again.”

Her glyph spun behind her, materializing a white Queen Lancer in a shimmer of snow. With a gesture from its summoner, the construct lashed out its stinger, harpooning Hazel and slamming him back on the academy floor.

“Yang!” Ruby shouted, before Tai could. “Go!”

His eldest took off at a run, Emerald and Mercury hot on her heels, but her steps faltered. “I can’t see!”

“I got you, firecracker!” Qrow’s sword was in Emerald’s back before Tai could realize why – he must have flown down from the balcony. But he swore as he landed, one leg collapsing underneath him, and as soon as Emerald rolled out of melee range he stuck Harbinger in the floor to bear up his weight.

Yang hesitated.

Then Mercury grabbed her arm. Her expression firmed. A _click_ , and he was holding the detached prosthetic, and she had disappeared into the vault.

Mercury stared after her. He stumbled forward, but Weiss swept her sword across the room and a wall of ice rose to block the way.

Jaune grimaced, lowering his shield. “Yours is a lot better than mine.”

Just as Tai wondered if the fight was over, Hazel’s limp form twitched in the middle of the floor. He rose jerkily, screaming like a dying Beowolf, and Tai nodded to himself, circling around to stand next to Qrow’s injured side. Yeah, that would probably show up in his nightmares.

Realistically speaking, Hazel shouldn’t have been a threat any longer. He had already been fighting sloppily before Ren’s shot. Now he was blinded with more than rage, and with the way his aura glittered over the ice, it seemed reasonable to guess that the pain was overriding his Semblance. But as wildly as he was lashing out, the lightning he spewed was as dangerous as ever. Those fists were nothing to sneeze at either. One glancing hit was all it took to dissipate the Queen Lancer, even if Jaune and Ren dodged the hit.

“You wanna go again?” Nora growled, fists tightening on Magnhild’s hammer.

Weiss put an arm out. “You’ve been fighting for a while. Don’t worry – I’ve got this.”

Stumbling around as he was, Hazel was an easy target for her glyphs. A series of pale circles crystallized under his feet, passing him seamlessly from one to the next, until he landed, trapped, in a black gravity dust glyph that robbed him of his momentum.

It didn’t rob him of his willpower, though. He roared, pressing against the force, and the circle shivered and cracked. Weiss swayed and collapsed to one knee. “I can’t hold him!”

A ribbon shot down from the balcony. In a smooth movement, it wrapped around Hazel’s chin, yanking his head up, meeting the axe kick delivered from above. He collapsed soundlessly, flickering green.

Ruby took a hesitant step forward, eyes wide. “Blake?”

Oh, good. Probably not a new enemy, then.

The girl’s head dipped, one hand coming up to rub behind a furry ear. She glanced over at Weiss. “I, uh. Are you hurt?”

Weiss shook her head, laughing breathlessly. “No! I’m totally fine. I just– weren’t you more of the quiet type?”

“Well… a lot’s happened.” She stepped closer. Ruby offered a hand with a smile, and, looking at her, Weiss followed suit. Blake ignored both to tackle them in a long-overdue hug.

Mercury, loitering awkwardly by the wall, threw his head back, groaning. “You gotta be kidding me. There’s _more_ of them?” He knocked a fist against the panelling. “And for all his talk, the big guy’s down for the count. Even Lionheart’s gone, and I wouldn’t trust him with my houseplants.”

“You don’t have a house,” Emerald groaned from the floor.

He nudged her with a toe, grimacing. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t if I did. You gonna back me up here? I don’t wanna be on my own against these freaks.”

“So don’t fight.” With that confident spark in her eyes and her team behind her, Ruby was the spitting image of her mother. “It’s two of you against all of us. You can’t win!”

Mercury shrugged, a picture of nonchalance. Emerald pulled herself up next to him. “I dunno. You guys seem pretty low on aura. Bet we could still do some decent damage.”

Tai cracked his knuckles. “You wanna bet on that?”

Qrow laughed raspily, swiping a sleeve across his nose. “I’ve gone up against worse than you with less aura than this,” he croaked.

Mercury and Emerald exchanged a loaded look. He rolled his eyes and slumped back against the wall again.

“Fine,” she said for both of them. “But it’s not over. Cinder will come back, and she’ll have the relic.” She bared her teeth. “She’ll stop all of you!”

Mercury tugged her arm. Darting a (fearful?) look at Tai, she sank down next to him. “She won’t let us down,” she swore.

Gears ground in the center of the room. The elevator rose, a blue light glowing in its depths… and when it came to a stop, Yang stepped off the platform, Lamp aloft.

Blake took a step back, eyes wide. “Yang?”

His daughter’s mouth dropped open. The lantern brightened in her hands. “Blake?”

Rustling by the wall drew Tai’s attention away from the starstruck pair. “C’mon,” Mercury murmured, yanking Emerald off the floor. “We gotta go.”

The girl shook her head. Her chest hitched on a quiet sob. Her eyes darted from face to face, her breaths coming faster as the elevator failed to move, and she might have been an enemy but she was also a child and Tai knew a panic attack when he saw one.

“Hey, it’s okay.” He took a step forward, but she recoiled from him, the whites of her eyes large and bright against her skin. He put his hands up. “We’re not gonna hurt you.”

“Speak for yourself,” Qrow grunted behind him.

“ _Not. Helping._ ”

It was too late, though. She shook her head again, scrabbling back against the wall.

“Emerald,” Mercury hissed, glancing frantically between her and Tai. “Get up. We have to go.”

“ _ **No!**_ ”

The shout rose. It became a scream, then a shriek, then a distortion of sound like nails against Grimm bone. He knew what he would see before the discord became a moon-pale face, looming around pitch-dark eyes.

She was beautiful. (Her arms and fingers writhed like maggots.) She was horrifying. (Her delicate features, the woman he’d loved.) She stared through him, each obsidian vein aberrant against her porcelain skin.

Whatever she saw enraged her. She swooped at him, _through_ him, like some terrible cross between a Nevermore and a Chill, and he flinched, collapsing to the floor. Her parting shriek echoed through the ruined hall.

“What… what _was_ that?” Blake asked, her voice as shaky as he felt.

He scanned the room, counting heads. Ruby and Weiss, shaky but leaning on each other for support. Blake, ears flat against her head, and Yang behind her, pale and grim. Her hands clenched around the Lantern. JNR, in various states of shock. And Qrow, brow furrowed at him in familiar lines. His eyes flickered over Tai’s neck. With conscious effort, Tai pulled his shoulders away from his ears, relaxing his stance from its defensive posture. “That kid’s Semblance,” Qrow said, drawing the kids’ attention. _Gods_ , he loved him. “Illusions, right?”

No Emerald, Mercury, or Hazel. He sighed (relief? disappointment?) and dragged himself upright, thanking whoever’s idea it was to make Long Memory a cane and feeling every one of the centuries he hadn’t lived. “Yeah. Sure looked like her, though.”

“Salem?” Ruby breathed. He nodded.

Yang snorted, shoving the Lamp at Qrow. He mussed her hair as he took it – equally to reassure himself, Tai knew, as it was to give Yang something to do with her hands. She made a face, but predictably began to tidy her part. “Did Ozpin describe her for you or something?”

“Nah.” His temples ached. “I’ve seen her.” _Anything to add?_ he asked.

There was no reply.

_You said I could ask if I had questions. Think I’ve got a few, now._

Nothing.

Qrow shot him another look. Tai peeled his hand from his forehead. Narrowing his eyes at Qrow, he rolled his shoulders, brushing off his concern.

Qrow tilted his head at him, squinting through his left eye. He tapped twice against his cheek – _out with it._

Tai sighed. “In the interests of full disclosure,” he said, glaring at Qrow, “I should probably note that I haven’t heard from Ozpin in a while, now.”

“But he’s still there, right?” Qrow searched his face, staring through him like he could find Ozpin if he just looked deep enough.

There was something green in his aura, maybe. An acorn where there had once been a forest thick enough to cradle a flame. Or maybe that was just the way his stomach ached when Qrow looked at him like that. Like he was just a vessel. Tai looked away – pretending he couldn't feel the weight of those eyes, the way they picked him apart. “I don’t know.”

“So what do we do now?” Ruby asked quietly.

Tai closed his eyes. The Lamp’s light danced in the darkness.

_Blue._

_Vault._

_Cold._

_ Safe safe? _

_He’d built it by hand, this and the others._

**_Cold._ **

_Alone._

_Alone. Alone.Alone._

_(He wasn’t meant to be) alone._

**_They’d promised._ **

“Dad?”

Warm hands on his arm. The other ached. (He’d strained it again.) His nose sparked with pain as his recovering aura knit the cartilage together.

That was Yang against his side. He leaned into her, grateful for the solid touch outlining the boundary of his skin, and felt the gentle stretch of old scars around the rise and fall of his chest. The bob of his throat as he swallowed.

“We have to take the Lamp to Atlas.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the post-credits epilogue, now. :3 Thanks for sticking with this.


	9. Chapter 9

It was difficult not to tear himself apart over every mistake he made at Haven. (Jab, back, palm strike.) Letting Weiss take on the Branwen bandit by herself. (Punch.) Leaving Ruby vulnerable. (Punch.) Every hit he'd let drain his aura, leaving him deadweight for Qrow and the kids to protect. (Cane whirl, strike.) Whatever he'd done to make Ozpin leave, gone before he could say whatever he'd promised they'd talk about after Haven. (Overhead smash. A minute or so to calm his breath.) He was a _huntsman_ , damn it! He knew _better_ than that!

But he knew better than to linger on it, too. That was why, after waiting for a few days for Ozpin to reappear and snap him out of his funk, he had manned up and taken his feelings to the roof.

It was a technique his therapist had suggested. After working out his frustrations – tightening his forms, pushing himself to be better next time – he set Long Memory aside and dropped into a flowing tai chi meditation.

There had been a lot of mistakes, yeah. But it wasn't all bad. No one was permanently injured, maimed, or killed. Qrow and Weiss would have a new scar each, but they were hunters. That was nothing to write home about. They'd fought off Salem’s flunkies and successfully protected the Lamp, so their primary objective was complete. His daughters’ team was back together. That was more bittersweet, but… he was glad for them. Hopefully RWBY (RWBYJNR?) would have better luck than STRQ.

And – oh yeah. There were boots on the roof.

“I wondered if you'd show up,” he said.

Emerald leaned against the wall, small and weaponless. He knew better than to believe it, but the attempt had to mean something. “Yeah, well. I had a question.”

There was a note of hatred running through her voice, pinching her eyes, red eyes, tight at the corners. He couldn't tell if it was directed at him or herself.

“Can't promise I'll have an answer for you, but you can go ahead and ask.”

“At Haven,” she said, looking away from him. At the cane. “Before we… left. You tried to _help_ me.”

He sank into the next pose. “That's not much of a question. But yeah, I did.”

“Why?” Her fists trembled. “I'm not one of your prissy pipsqueaks. I'm your _enemy._ I should mean _nothing_ to you.”

He snorted. “My enemies don't mean nothing to me.” When he faced down a bounty, it was with determination and respect. When he fought Salem’s agents, he felt fear, and sadness, and fury. Watching Emerald now, he remembered a young Qrow in the nonchalant way she set her back against the wall, a new-met Raven in the set of her shoulders, and he grieved for all three of them – bandits who thought it was them against the world, all too young to be this afraid. “Anyway, you're a kid. I'm a huntsman. If you're in trouble, it's my job to help.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, right. Huntsmen don't care about helping kids. They just kill Grimm for whatever city pays best.” The derision under the words was more tired than anything. “Cinder says I can't depend on anyone like that. That it's no one’s job to take care of you but yourself.”

His heart panged with an unwanted glimpse of empathy. Cinder had killed him– killed _Ozpin._ But she was human too, it seemed. “I'm sorry for the both of you, then.”

“You're not even gonna try to tell me I'm wrong?”

“Would you believe me?”

Emerald shrugged. “Probably not.”

He took a breath, then let it out. “Okay.” He'd reached the last step in the meditation. Bowing in no particular direction, Tai silently thanked his teachers and returned to a neutral position. “I'll be here, if you change your mind.”

He hadn't expected to see her leave. The empty rooftop came as no surprise. But there was a black bird on the balcony, watching him with red eyes, and it cawed, just once, before it flew away.

Tai watched it disappear into the mountains. Then he picked up his cane and went inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for Volume 6? 👀

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to correct my Google Translate Chinese. (Intended translations in hovertext!)


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